When The Time Comes
by pinkrosepictures
Summary: A collection of Nancy and Frank centric one-shots based on the 70s TV Show. CHRISTMAS UPDATE: Nancy and Frank are spending Christmas in Carson's office and nostalgia ensues…
1. Chapter 1

_**BASED ON THE 1977 TV SHOW**_

 _ **This is the first in what is hopefully going to be a series of Nancy and Frank one-shots (Joe and Bess might make appearances here and there). The title refers to the one of my favorite 70s songs which always reminded me of these two.**_

 _ **Chapter one is set sometime after Season 2's Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom. Enjoy!**_

* * *

"I really don't feel comfortable leaving you here all by yourself."

"I'll be fine, I'll lock the door. Dad will be home in the morning, and Captain Rogers is only a phone call away."

"A phone call and a five minute drive…"

"Frank..." The young detective tried to reason with her frequent associate and fellow sleuth Frank Hardy.

"Nancy..." He mirrored the tilt of her head, locking their blue eyes in a staring contest to see who would back down first…

"This is really endearing, but It's late and I want to know where I'm sleeping tonight," Frank's younger brother Joe, who had been observing the exchange with amusement, cut in.

"Fine," Nancy gave in, realizing that her stubbornness was no match for Frank's chivalry.

"Joe, you take the guest bedroom. Frank, since you are so concerned about my safety you can stay on the couch so you can keep an eye on the street."

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Frank replied as Nancy opened a closet, pulled out a blanket and threw it at Frank.

"I hope you don't get any sleep!" With that she walked up the stairs that lead to her bedroom.

"I think your girlfriend is upset," Joe teased once Nancy was out of earshot.

"Shut up and help me check the windows. We don't want any surprises."

"Alright, maybe we'll find the guest bedroom while we're at it," the younger Hardy complied, knowing very well that Frank's concern was far from unreasonable.

Earlier that night the three of them had successfully recovered a very valuable coin collection. Yet, one of the thieves had gotten away and his accomplice had made it very clear that the detectives should watch their backs. But after making sure that no one was lurking outside, and double checking the locks on every window and door, the boys felt that it was safe enough to retire for the night. Joe in the guest bedroom, which was across the hall from Nancy's room, and Frank on the living room couch.

The peace did, however, not last long.

"Damn it," Frank whispered, he had maybe gotten five minutes of sleep before a noise in the kitchen had woken him up again. Careful not to alert a possible intruder of his presence, he peeked into the dark room just to find the back door wide open. But before he got a chance to investigate it further, a certain part time investigator stepped inside. Her light blue dressing gown making her look like a ghost in the moonlight.

"Nancy?" He switched the light on, startling the other detective.

"Frank! You scared me!"

"I scared you? What the hell were you doing outside?" He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or angry.

"I heard a noise," Nancy explained, as she closed — and locked — the door behind her. "And I didn't want to wake you."

"Well you did a great job," Frank rolled his eyes. "So did you find out what it was?"

"It was nothing," Nancy dismissed him.

"Well it must have been something if it woke you up."

"It was a raccoon," Nancy admitted, a little embarrassed that the animal had spooked her. "And no, it wasn't out for revenge. So you can just go back to sleep."

"Are you sure? With your track record I wouldn't be surprised if it was."

"Oh ha ha, maybe it's working with the squirrel we saw earlier."

"I'm only trying to look out for you," Frank explained.

"I almost had them, then you two barged in and Collins got away."

"And if we hadn't they both would have, and I don't even want to imagine what they…"

"Then don't," Nancy cut him off. "What's it to you, anyway?"

"Maybe I'm worried about my reputation," he took a step towards her.

"Your reputation?"

"It doesn't exactly speak for my investigative skills, if my partner ends up in the hospital," he swallowed hard. "Or worse."

"You called me your partner," Nancy noted, meeting his gaze.

"Well, we do make a good team…" his eyes darted down to her lips. "I mean, the three of us. You, me and Joe," he added hoping that she hadn't noticed.

"Of course," Nancy couldn't help but smile. "Although, I don't mind it being just the two of us."

"Excuse my confusion, but didn't you want me to leave you alone?" Frank teased her, the frustration from just a minute ago seemed to have dissolved into anther form of tension.

"What I want is for you to respect me, treat me like you treat Joe," she explained.

"You want me to treat you like my brother?" Frank gave her a questioning look, before they both laughed about the ridiculousness of that statement considering their current position.

"You know what I mean," she gave him a playful nudge.

"On second thought, you do remind me of him."

"Lets fix that," with that Nancy got up on her toes and closed the last bit of distance between them. The kiss was chaste, much like the one they had shared in Los Angeles. Her lips merely brushed over his before she pulled back to gauge his reaction.

"Well?" She gave him a questioning look, and he didn't waste a beat. Frank Hardy leaned in and kissed her hard. He pulled her closer, and her small hands wandered from his chest to his neck before her fingers tightened in his hair. He lifted her up to make up for their hight difference, and her legs locked around his waist. They fit together perfectly.

When Nancy finally did slid back down, both of their knees were shaking.

"That certainly beats our sparring sessions," Frank spoke first.

"Oh I don't know, there was that one time in Munich where you ended up on the floor," Nancy teased, before she leaned in again, but Frank pulled away.

"Did you hear that?"

"It's probably another raccoon…" Nancy rolled her eyes, but any further objections where interrupted by Joe stepping into the kitchen.

"Joe, what are you doing up?" Nancy quickly brought some distance between Frank and herself.

"I heard something," Joe explained with a sly smile. "But I guess it was just the two of you." One look at the scene and it was clear what he had walked into. It was almost comical how flushed his brother and Nancy looked.

"There was a raccoon outside, but Nance scared it away," Frank explained matter of factly.

"Ya, we were just about to go back to bed," Nancy added.

"I bet," Joe replied, giving the two of them a look that was usually reserved for perps who were just about to confess.

"You should do the same, it's been a long day," Frank tried to usher Joe back to the door.

"Okay, I'm leaving," he laughed. "If I hear anything else I'm just gonna assume the raccoon came back."

"Good Night Joe," Nancy said a smirk on her lips as Frank closed the door behind his younger brother.

"I'm sorry," he started.

"He meant well," Nancy laughed, ready to continue right where Joe had interrupted them.

"No he did not," Frank laughed, and kissed her on the top of her head. "But we should call it a night."

"Mhmm," Nancy wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. "I'm glad you stayed."

"Me too," he returned her smile and kissed her again. It took them about 15 more minutes of saying good night before Nancy returned to her bedroom, and Frank to the couch. But only another five until Nancy decided that they'd have a much better chance of detecting any possible intruders if they'd stayed together. And of course Frank didn't object when she slipped under the same blanket she had thrown at him earlier.

* * *

 _ **That's it, thanks for reading!**_

 _ **Love Laura**_


	2. The Crimes of Christmas Past

_Here's a little Holiday scene. It is also based on the 70s show but instead of having Nancy and Frank meet in the Dracula episode I gave them a little (ok, a lot) more backstory. Timeline wise it is set after the second season so they are around 21/20 here. Enjoy!_

* * *

 **The Crimes of Christmas Past, (Present and Future)**

Nancy sighed – as much as she enjoyed her work as a part time investigator, it was nights like these when she envied Bess' job at the boutique. Sure selling clothes wasn't exactly thrilling, but right now a little nine to five monotony didn't sound so bad. Especially the nine to five part…

Dragging her foot across the carpet, she leaned back in her father's big desk chair spinning it around as she studied the pattern of the wood panelling on the ceiling…

And that's how Frank found her. "Don't make yourself dizzy, we still have a Christmas party to attend."

"If starring at these files for the last…" she glanced at her watch, "…three hours didn't do it, then no amount of twirling will."

She came to a stop, opened the box that Frank had just brought in with him, and gave its contents an unenthusiastic look. "Please tell me that's the last of it."

"I wish I could," Frank gave her an apologetic smile. Twelve years ago, their fathers had worked together on a high profile embezzlement case. But despite their best efforts, they could never gather enough evidence to put the prime suspect behind bars…

At least not until a new trail brought Fenton and the boys back to River Heights. Much to Joe's delight it was the day of Bess' annual Christmas party, and of course he had excused himself at the first opportunity he got. Always eager to help, Frank and Nancy had volunteered to go over Carson's old files (a task they had grossly underestimated), while their fathers where working with Captain Rogers at the police station.

"We'll never make it to Bess' party…" Nancy sighed, grabbed a stack of files and split it between Frank and herself.

 _xoxo_

"I need a break," Nancy announced an hour later. She was still lounging in her dad's chair, while Frank had gotten comfortable on the couch.

"Uh huh," he acknowledged her without looking up.

"Why didn't we bail when we had the chance?"

"Because we are the responsible ones..." he finally looked up. "Or maybe we're just trying to make up for the last time we tried to help with this case."

"What do you mean?" Nancy gave him a confused look.

"Don't tell me, you forgot! It was Christmas break, we were supposed to go skiing but dad wanted to make a stop here to help your dad with this case…"

"Of course!" Nancy remembered. "They were stuck at the station for days, and we felt so bad that they were missing out on Christmas so…"

"So we made cookies for everyone, and gave the whole station food poisoning…" Frank couldn't help but laugh at the memory.

"We were kids! How were we supposed to know that eggs could go bad?" Nancy argued.

"Do you think that was the reason they never solved this case?"

"God, I hope not…" She tried to focus her attention back on the file in her lap but it only took a few seconds until her eyes drifted back to Frank.

"For what it's worth, it still was a really great Christmas."

"One of the best," Frank agreed, a smile curving his lips. "I've always liked spending Christmas with you."

"Me too, even that time you took the music box dad gave me apart."

"That must have been Joe."

"No, it was definitely you," Nancy got up and joined Frank on the couch. "It was the year we were in Vienna. We saw the Nutcracker while our dads were working, and then you wanted to see if you could make the little dancer go as fast as the real ones."

"It flew right off the thing…" he remembered.

"That's not an apology."

"I think I made up for it the year I took the blame for denting aunt Gertrude's car…"

"You only did that because you shouldn't have let me drive it in the first place!" Nancy replied with mock outrage.

"You were begging me! And did you pass your driver's test the week after or not?" Frank gave her a stern look, knowing very well that she had passed with flying colors.

"Fine…" Nancy gave in and her expression softened "Do you remember the first time we spend Christmas together? When…"

"How could I not?" Frank interrupted her. "I was eight, it was the first Christmas without mom. I don't think we would have celebrated at all if it hadn't been for your surprise visit."

"Dad was supposed to attend some conference in New York, but it got cancelled last minute so we came to see you…"

"Christmas Eve has always been a very popular date for law conferences," Frank noted.

"I was only seven, but still saw right through it," Nancy laughed before she got serious again. "And we knew what it's like." She found his hand and squeezed it.

They sat like that for a moment before Frank got up. "Come on," he picked up their coats, and waited by the door. "Let's get out of here."

"What about the files?" Nancy hesitated.

"They have been in storage for twelve years, they can wait until tomorrow… Or next year," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well…" Nancy paused. "It's not like this is a murder investigation, and I wouldn't want to be responsible for breaking our tradition of spending the holidays together." With that she jumped up and joined him.

"But we should stop by the station later, maybe bring them some leftovers from the party," she added as Frank helped her into her coat.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Frank responded with an amused smile.

"Nothing homemade," Nancy gave him a playful nudge with her shoulder as they walked outside. Both silently agreeing that cutting the criminals a little slack was a small sacrifice to keep a long standing tradition intact.


End file.
